The Memory of Running

By: Ron McLarty

Narrated by: Ron McLarty

Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

Award-winning actor and playwright Ron McLarty is well known for his audiobook performances. What fewer people realize is that he's also an accomplished author. In this wonderfully quirky novel, available exclusively as an audiobook, McLarty takes readers on a quest to find hope and redemption with an unlikely hero.

Smithson Ide is 43 years old and weighs 279 pounds when his parents die in an accident. Lost in memories of childhood, Smithson uncovers his old Raleigh bicycle in the garage and begins a cross-country journey to find his beautiful, but tragically psychotic sister. Keenly aware of how ridiculous he must appear, Smithson nonetheless perseveres through a journey that is hilarious and horrifying. It is a trip, he soon realizes, that might provide his last chance to become the person he has always wanted to be.

In late 2003, in his column in Entertainment Weekly, Stephen King called The Memory of Running "the best novel you won't read this year." This glowing endorsement of the audiobook resulted in Ron McLarty receiving a $2 million two-book deal from Viking Penguin. Also, Warner Brothers has shelled out big bucks for the movie rights to The Memory of Running, for which McLarty will write the script.

©2002 Ron McLarty (P)2002 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"Ron McLarty's The Memory of Running is the best novel you won't read this year. But you can experience it, and I'm all but positive that you'll thank me for the tip if you do....What I hope is that you'll order a copy and experience it for yourself....It's bighearted and as satisfying as one of your mom's home-cooked Sunday dinners." (Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly)

Poorly written tedium

I confess, I gave up on this tired tale after six hours. If you are looking for compelling writing, look elsewhere.

Lost

It's an OK story, but I only got maybe halfway through the audiobook before I quit. The problem was that the story jumps around way too much, chronologically and character-wise. Many times, I had no idea what was going on.

A Disappointment

I tried and tried to like this book. But I couldn't. I kept hoping it would end, but it went on endlessly and aimlessly, until it got the better of me. I had to quit.

Ron McLarty is a wonderful reader, and he has a glimmer of hope as a writer. However, he needs to take plot and character lessons. The book had no plot and, on the few occasions when it tried at plot, it failed. The characters started out as likeable, but then they grey tiresome in their exceeding simplicity, almost stupid and silly ways.

I would have given this book one star, but the reading by Mr. McLarty, as usual, is excellent, even though the words went nowhere.

I think Mr. McLarty might actually make it as a writer someday, but not on this one, I'm sad to say.

Bad

Terrible. The first Audible book I didn't bother finishing. The writing style is folksy to a fault, and mildly amusing. The first person narrative barely matches the writing style. It's way too involved, too "knowing" for the simple protagonist (almost like the author was too smart for his ow character). Compare that to the superb, fantastical Life of Pi (which I read years ago, and recently listened to the audio version), where you can wholly imagine the main character thinking and saying such things. And enough with the breasts already! I get the feeling that Audible listeners chose this book more for the narrator than for the text. For more accurate reader reviews, check out Amazon.com. There's probably a good reason I haven't read a Stephen King book in years too (he highly recommended this)

Rather Tedious

I really had to force myself to get through this book. I didn't really care about the characters, and the narration was nothing special.

What story?

Would you try another book from Ron McLarty and/or Ron McLarty?

Maybe. The writing style was fine, there just wasn't a story enough to hook me on or keep my interest.

Would you ever listen to anything by Ron McLarty again?

Possibly.

What does Ron McLarty bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Very nice reading voice. Easy to listen to.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Mind numbing boredom.

Any additional comments?

Maybe i didn't give this enough time, but after several hours of listening, I was nearly in tears waiting for anything interesting to evolve.

Where is the story?

What would have made The Memory of Running better?

This is a disjointed series of feelings, without logic or cohesion to the plot. I kept expecting the story to come together, but was sorely disappointed.

What do you think your next listen will be?

I'm afraid to select!

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Narrator did not detract.

Charming

Charming, warm and witty.

Don't believe the reviews

I was excited about this book because it did get reviewed well. I must say I'm truly surprised at the ratings. If it takes 4 hours to decide if you are going to keep listening, that is not the sign of a good audiobook. Maybe if you were reading and could skip over much of the tedium, it would be ok, but I would not recommend this as a listen. Not at all.

The Negative Reviews Say It All For Me

When I research and bought this book all I could see were all the 5 star raving reviews and the Stephen King endorsement. To me, this story is frustrating, slow, boring and lacking plot. The characters are wandering, undeveloped and what is there is really just plain unlikable. I can't recommend it--though based on reviews others seem to love this dreary book. I'm just sorry that I wasted even a minute on this listen. Disappointing.